A lawyer for members of the military and other federal agencies who were investigated and sanctioned because of their sexual orientation says a hellish week of hard-fought negotiations led to a legal settlement.

In an interview today, Doug Elliott calls the agreement in principle a “fair and reasonable settlement.”

Elliott says the Liberal government’s plan to deliver a formal apology this Tuesday for wrongs perpetrated on the LGBTQ community put a lot of pressure on both sides to settle the lawsuit.

But Elliott adds he wasn’t prepared to take a bad deal, and the lead plaintiffs in the case are satisfied with the outcome — details of which will be announced at a news conference following the apology.

The federal government is also set to introduce legislation on Tuesday to expunge the criminal records of people convicted of consensual sexual activity with same-sex partners.

The overall scope of the government apology is expected to surpass what other countries have done to make amends to LGBTQ communities.